LOOK UP, AND BE GLAD!

Rev DL Whittaker, Washington

 

In reading the Old Testament, I don't believe I have ever read any scripture, except for the incident of Abraham being asked by God to offer his son, Isaac, for a sacrifice. We are all aware, that from time to time, God asks us to do things, that we humans, would rather not think about.

 

God has perfect reasons for why He does this, because we Christians give Him a lot of opportunities to wonder just dedicated, committed, and how much we love Him. If we think about it a while, we have to admit that we are most lazy when it comes to the things of God.  In front of others, it is easy to show how eager and excited we are about all aspects of our walk with Christ, but when we are away from the church, it isn't always so easy. That of course, seems to be the norm. We, after all, are human, and we do the normal, common thing, and that is, be normal.

 

We all know, that in the early Bible days, whenever a sacrifice had to be made, it had to be an unblemished offering. Usually a little lamb. Lambs are gentle, meek creatures who usually would never put up a fight. But, why would God ask Abraham to sacrifice the son that he loved dearly?.. Well, you and I both know, if we think about it, that only one human sacrifice could be made, that would atone for the sins of the world.  In reading, I have to assume that Isaac was young enough, that he would not have yet been touched by the temptations to sin. Pretty innocent, I would think.  The big test, however, would be this. How much did Abraham love God?  Did he love Him enough that whatever God asked of him, whatever price he would have to pay, did he love God enough to do it? 

 

We make all kinds of promises to God. We sing of our love to Him, we say that we will do anything, give up anything, even go to the ends of the earth for Him, but in the next breath, we are happy as clams, because He has never personally asked us to do anything but give our hearts to Him and prepare for heaven. That is all well and good, so long as there are no storms to come our way, no family members to upset our apple cart, and upset us real bad. I could go on from there. You all know what I am talking about don't you?

 

Back to Abraham: This was his son. He had taught his son to always be respectful, to obey him, and all the things that a good father would teach, and do, well, there could be no question about how much he loved Isaac. But, how much did Abraham love God. Well, it would appear that he love God very much, because he made all the preparations to carry out the wishes of God. Gathered wood, for the burnt offering, had his knife sharpened and ready, made his son ready for the journey, and off they went. It was a long trek. Not just a one-day thing.  When they got there, I am sure that deep inside, Abraham’s heart felt like it would break.  I came with his beloved son, now he would go back home without him, but after all, he wanted to be obedient to the Father. Obedience is better than sacrifice, and much emphasis was placed on pure obedience to God. The law would prevail.  Of course, the son, completely trusting of his father, would not question any move that was made, except to ask where the sacrificial lamb was. The answer, God will provide. Even as the altar was prepared with the wood, Isaac was laid upon the wood, and Abraham raised the knife, Isaac still had faith in his father to know that it was ok.  God would provide, and provide, he did. Out of nowhere, it would seem, came the sacrifice, and the purpose of the trip was carried out.  I don't know if we could be as willing to carry out God's wishes as Abraham, but, How Much Do We Love God?  His word has taught us that we should love Him more than silver and gold, more than our family, our home, etc. Oh, but we work so hard for those things. And as for our family, they wouldn't understand if we said we love God more than we do them. Well, they would have to love God in order to understand what was transpiring.

 

God loved His son so much. He had always been obedient to him, they had many round table discussions about many things, but the world was in sin. There needed to be a sacrifice that would take care of the whole world, not just a few, as did the old sacrifice.  God knew from the beginning of time, that man would sin, and it would take a perfect sacrifice to atone for the debauchery of man's life.

 

When Jesus was born of Mary, Jesus knew what His purpose was for coming into this world.  Mary knew also, and when she looked at him, she was constantly reminded that she would have Him only for a short time. When He said, "I must be about my father's business, I am sure she felt, "Not yet." Please, He is so young. God loved His son, more than Mary. She was only an instrument to bring about God's purpose and plan. When the time came for Jesus to be offered up, I am sure God's heart would break, for He would have to turn His head, and Jesus would, as it were, have to bear all this all alone. God could not even look on the sins of the world.  Jesus knew, however, that only for a little while, and He would be back at His father's side, and never have to be offered up again. You and I would never have to sacrifice something so precious, as one of our children, to have atonement for our sin.

 

Think about what I am saying folks. How much do we love Him? How much are we willing to go through for Him?  Let's quit complaining so much about the church, and our jobs, and those who live around us. We really don't have it so bad, when we consider what we had in the old past. Look Up and Be Glad. Soon we'll see Jesus, and it will be worth what we had here. 

 

God Bless.